Students, teachers, parents and other allies will join the Women’s March Youth by walking out of school on March 18 for 17 minutes to protest the current gun laws.
Students are not safe in schools, people are not safe in cities or towns, and this is why Congress must take action against the federal gun reform legislation addressing the public health crisis of gun violence, according to the Women’s March Network.
Some professors, like Daniel Kiel, professor of law at the University of Memphis, said the student walkout can benefit students educationally.
“I am supportive of student activism however I can be, and participation in the walkout can be an education far richer than what might be gained in a classroom,” Kiel said. “I teach constitutional law, for example, and what better way could there be for students to learn about the constitutional structure than to play for themselves the crucial role that is reserved for the people in our constitution.”
Kiel said there is an obvious balance, but when the moment demands action, he would not fault students for taking action. Kiel said he thinks this generation of young people holds a very important power, and he hopes it will soon be awakened.
“Too often young people seem content to wait before engaging in advocacy about important issues,” Kiel said. “But when they are organized and committed, they have power through their numbers, their energy and their votes to cause a change, which they need because the future belongs to them.”
Schools across the country are taking part in the national walkout, even in places with small populations like Gibson County, Tennessee.
A teacher, who wanted to reamin anonymous, from Gibson County said he supports the walkout and understands why schools feel like it is necessary to enforce policies about leaving the building because when they are on campus, the students are the schools’ responsibility. But he also said schools should be able to alleviate this situation by offering different ways in which students can express their views.
“I personally understand that students desire to have a voice in the process of governance,” the teacher said. “I believe that we as teachers and parents should work with students to find ways for them to express their voices and fully realize their agency they have in their own lives.”
The teacher said he believes this walkout could inspire a new generation of interest in governance, and a generation of service-minded citizens could change many things for the better.
“This movement reminds me a lot of the early ‘60s Freedom Riders movement because it is mobilizing a new generation and hopefully is bringing up a brand new crop of leaders,” the teacher said. “I think these kids are really ready to take on the reins and lead America into the next decade and decades to come.”
